September 23, 2005 - Two Sides of a Coin

San Jose is a city of such contrast. It is surrounded by such incredible natural beauty but has poverty at its core. There are dozens of beautiful Catholic churches but a prostitute on each corner. Paul and I spent the day observing, tasting and experiencing a few sides of San Jose (no prostitutes included).

The City was bustling with activity. It’s Friday and the city was teetering between the busy workweek and the festive weekend. There were people dressed in business suits, school uniforms, common wear, and low-rider jeans with drop tops. Strolling a few blocks through San Jose was all it took it get a feel for its diversity.

We unfortunately did wander a block or two too far north. The garbage began to pile up on the streets, and the empty lots became more frequent. The reality of children begging for dollars made itself known. And, in this neighborhood, we ran into an “American”. John comes to Costa Rica from Australia, through Savannah, Georgia. He is building a motorcycle rental business here and was eager to find potential customers. If I knew how to ride one, I may have considered taking out one of his motorcycles to explore a bit more. But, for everyone’s safety, it was best that I stay on foot.

With less than a full day to explore, Paul and I opted for a tour of La Paz Waterfall Gardens Natural Park & Wildlife Refuge. The ride up the mountainside was a pleasant one, partially due to our driver, Jorge. Jorge was pleasant and knowledgeable with a genuine openness. We learned much about the society, geography, and economy of this country over the hour or so it took to reach our rendezvous point with the tour bus that would take us the rest of the way to La Paz. Our tour guide, Rebecca, picked up with courtesy, just where Jorge left off.

The waterfalls were quite spectacular, situated within lush forest. There were five of them, each cascading down, pausing along level earth, and then meeting with the next plunge. The trail touched each of the falls…close enough for the mist to reach back to us.

The refuge is also home to the largest butterfly observatory in the World. Though there were many, each was quite elusive. I would call them “camera-shy” if I didn’t know better. The only ones more difficult to capture on film were the hummingbirds that frequent the feeders in the park. They dart about, not exactly purposefully avoiding the camera, but accomplishing this none the less.

It was raining a bit in the city tonight but the tortilla soup warmed me quite well. Paul and I took a little more care in remembering the correct turns to get back to the hotel and we managed to overshoot by only one block this time. But, in that short block, we encountered too many women hard at work. Then again, our Rebecca did allude to the reality that some of these women are no women at all.

Tomorrow, we may explore more of the fauna of Costa Rica but this time it will be at the zoo before we head to the harbor.